


What Happened to Smith?

by FonzFan82



Series: Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation [6]
Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints, Joseph Smith, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 15:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 17,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2353112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FonzFan82/pseuds/FonzFan82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation was asked to help clear their parents' names since they were accused of being involved with the murder of Joseph Smith from the Mormon church, Latter - Day Saints. Would the two generations be able to solve this 100+ unsolved murder?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation, Kylie Jones – Blake, Danny Blake, Jessica and Ryan Anderson, Frank and Gloria Rogers took the new Mystery Machine to have its first oil change. This was the very first time Kylie had ridden in the Mystery Machine ever since her friends bought it not too long ago.

After dropping the Mystery Machine off, the gang decided to walk around for a while. They weren’t far from Kylie’s father, Fred Jones’s place. They found their parents outside Fred’s house. Daphne Blake, Danny’s mother, waved them over. The gang walked over to the house. It was a two – story ranch style, but the house looked like it could use a real paint job. The paint both inside and out looked like it was fading.

The gang came closer to their parents. They could tell there was something wrong with their parents. The gang looked at one another, wondering what was on their parents’ minds.

“Glad you arrived, kids. There is something we’d like to talk to you all about,” Velma Dinkley, Jessica and Ryan’s mother said.

“What’s wrong? From the looks on your faces, it doesn’t look like it’s good news,” Danny remarked.

“Of course there isn’t, Son. There is a mystery for you all to solve,” Daphne said.

The gang looked at one another a second time.

“Well, this one is a bit complicated to explain. It’s about a cold case on one of the founders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We’ve been accused of Joseph Smith’s murder,” Shaggy explained with a scared look on his face.

“What your father is trying to say is that we were in the area almost forty years ago and somebody from the Church accused us,” Fred told Gloria and Frank.

“Why would they accuse you of a crime you didn’t commit?” Jessica asked.

“That’s something we’d like to know. That’s where you come in,” Daphne said.

Shaggy, Fred, and Velma nodded in agreement.

“This could be a dangerous case for you,” Shaggy said to Frank and Gloria.

“We’re tough, Dad. I’m sure we’ll be fine on this case,” Gloria reassured her fahter while putting her light – brown hair in a ponytail.

Now the group wondered how to solve over a hundred or so murder. Both generations would have to wait and see how 2nd Generation would solve their most dangerous myurder yet. Kylie is a lawyer but would have to see how hard this case would be in court. Kylie watched Gloria push her bangs out of her face while Danny played around with her own blonde long hair.

Danny had always loved playing with her long, blonde hair, even if he had nothing to do. Kylie had the looks of her father, Fred. People have never thought of dreaming of a second generation of Mystery Inc. They always thought it was the end of Mystery Inc. Kylie and her friends looked into another’s eyes. What would fans think of this mystery?


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Kylie and the gang were sitting in her office, eating lunch. Today was busy, so she stayed in her office. She invited the gang for lunch and they all accepted. Danny decided to take a break and have their daughter, Claudia take over for a while. She was happy to let Danny have a break once in a while.

While eating silently, the gang heard Patsy Logan, Kylie’s secretary knock on the door.

“Come in,” Kylie called as she heard a burp from Frank.

“Excuse me,” he said in his polite manners.

Patsy opened the door and the gang saw a woman walk in.

“She says her name is Lucy Smith,” Patsy introduced.

“Hello, Mrs. Smith. Would you like to have a seat?” Kylie asked.

“Thanks.”

Lucy looked around the office: the office held about seven or eight chairs, one sweviel chair, a light brown wooden desk and the walls were covered with fading white paint that could use a fixing up kind of job. Lucy also saw paintings all over the office walls. The window wasn’t far from Kylie’s desk but did notice it was open. Lucy looked around: Danny sitting next to Kylie in his best outfit which was dark green and some gray in the background with trees. He also had on white pants, socks and shoes.

His hair had been neatly combed and brushed. His light brown hair could use a trim. He was really good – looking for somebody in his forties. Lucy saw Kylie was in her fifties, blonde hair and blue eyes. Lucy could tell Kylie had looks from her father, Fred Jones. Lucy did see Kylie and Danny would make a good couple. She saw Frank Rogers.

Frank was also good – looking for his early forties. He had light blue eyes and Kylie’s blue eyes were a bit darker than his own. Today Frank had his curly red hair that loked like it was a mess. Frank dressed professionally. He was wearing a light orange T – shirt and shoes, socks and pants that matched. He often found this outfit as work clothes. His shirt held a orange and polka dot tie. She really didn’t have any clue to what his career was.

Jessica, she had heard of was the same Anderson from her weekly column. Today Jessica’s hair was in a ponytail. Jessica was wearing light purple Nikes. They looked to be either a size seven or seven and a half. The socks looked like they were brand – new just like the shoes themselves.

And Ryan Anderson, Jessica’s brother looked a lot more like their mother, Velma Dinkley did rather than Jessica. Ryan had reading glasses on. Kylie and the gang wore no glasses since Ryan was the only one with them. Ryan’s sight only needed glasses for reading only, Lucy guessed. And, last, but not least, Gloria was a spitting image of Shaggy Rogers.

Shaggy was well – known for his cowardness and a cook. He was really good at that. Lucy did see Ryan had a job over at First National Bank since his work outfit had told her. The National Bank logo was on Ryan’s left on his shirt. The shirt had recently been washed and ironed and had no wrinkles. It surprised her how well these characters were dressed.

After Patsy had left, Lucy cleared her throat. 

“What did you come here for, Mrs. Smith?” Kylie asked.

“My name isn’t Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Blake. It’s actually Miss,” Lucy corrected Kylie.

“I’m not a Mrs. Either. What can we do for you today?” Kylie asked.

“I’m sure you all have heard about the Joseph Smith murder, right?” Lucy asked as the gang nodded yes.

“You see, I happen to be related to him. He was on my father’s side of the family. I want you to solve his murder,” she continued.

“We’ll take the case, but we’d like to know what happened first,” Kylie said.

So Lucy began her story.

“As you all know, this happened in the eighteen hundreds before he died. Before he was murdered, he was in jail and was attacked by the mob. He had been working on his writing before he was shot from the mob. The manuscript never got finished. We’d like to find out where the manuscrupt is and who did it.”

Flashback:

Joseph Smith was killed by a mob intent on indicating the LDS church. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter – Day Saints foreced persecution from their earliest days. They were denied government protection and driven from Missouri to Illinois, were rising tensions ultimately to the assassination of their prophet Joseph Smith on 27 June 1844. Joseph Smith declared national law on 1834, to protect Navuoo Mormons from violent restriction.

The Illinois government promised Joseph Smith protection if he would stand trial for treason against the State of Illinois for declaring movtie laws. Smith intially ran from the state, but he ultimately returned and surrendered.

End Flashback

“As you could see, at that time the Latter – Day Saints were recently being discovered from him. You can always call the Latter – Day Saints church headquarters in Utah for more information. You can talk to Bishop Chuck Larsen,” Lucy said.

“We’ll be sure to do so,” Kylie said, getting out of the desk chair to let the woman out.

The gang thought Lucy was cute. Lucy had light brown hair, curly, outfit was pink and blue from top to bottom. Lucy looked to be in her late thirties, the gang guessed.

“All right, gang. Next is to start snooping around,” Kylie announced.

Lunch was now over and everyone left to go back to work.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later, Kylie and the gang had supper with their parents at Daphne’s house.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened forty years ago?” Ryan asked.

Ryan also bought along his daughter and son, Linda and Keith since Lauren was no longer living. When Ryan would be out solving mysteries with the gang, Ryan had always left the kids with his mother, Velma.

“We know you all have to know some time,” Daphne said.

Fred decided to explain first.

“Have you all met Lucy Smith?” Fred asked.

The younger generation nodded yes.

“She was in my office a couple days ago, Dad. What about her do we need to know?” Kylie asked as Danny began to play with her long blonde hair.

“You see, she is an old friend. She had somehow was with us the time we were in the area. We were working on a case not too far away from the Church. We did not go to the Church to snoop around, but were busy looking for clues that sounded like they were near the Church, so we took a chance,” Fred said.

“I just don’t see what this has to do with Lucy,” Kylie remarked.

“We’re getting to that, dear. While Shaggy here was out with Velma, Daphne and I were trying to look for a mineral on the ground. We heard a scream. It defintely did not sound like your father,” Fred told Gloria and Frank.

“It didn’t sound like as man screaming. It was mostly a woman screaming. We went to investigate.

Flashback:

Fred was picking up some sort of rock that ended up on the back of his white T – shirt when he and Daphne heard a woman screaming. It was a high – pitched voice.

“Let’s go and find out who that is screaming,” Fred whispered to Daphne.

Daphne was also wondering about what the screaming was all about. So Fred let Daphne send a text message to Velma and Shaggy telling where they were going. Velma texted back, saying she and Shaggy heard the female voice calling for help. Daphne wrote back, saying they would meet Velma and Shaggy. Fred and Daphne were there before Velma and Shaggy since the scream was near them.

“What happened, Miss?” Fred asked.

“I think I just saw a ghost!” the woman said in a scared voice.

“Who was the ghost?” Shaggy asked.

He and Velma just arrived on the scene.

“Now you’re starting to get me scared,” Shaggy added.

“Cool it, Shaggy. Will you tell us who this so – called ghost was?” Velma asked.

“He looked like Joseph Smith, one of the founders of the Latter – Day Saints church,” the woman started.

“Before you continue, may we have your name?” Fred asked, helping the woman up.

“My name is Lucy Smith,” the woman introduced.

“Where was the ghost headed, Lucy?” Daphne asked.

“I have no idea. He was moving too fast for me to figure this one out,” Lucy replied.

“Are you a family member of the late Joseph Smith?” Fred questioned.

“Why, of course I am. How did you know that?” Lucy asked in a frightened voice.

“We hear screams like this all the time,” Velma answered.

“And I thought I was the coward one,” Shaggy stated.

“You should know by now you aren’t the only chicken around here,” Velma told him.

“Good,” Shaggy said with a sigh.

“The ghost I just saw looked a lot like the real Joseph Smith. The Church is in progress on trying to figure out what happened to him at the time the mob came around. We’re trying to find a manuscript that never got published,” Lucy told the gang.

“What kind of manuscript would that be?” Daphne asked.

“That’s just the thing the Church has no idea where the manuscript could be. We believe before he died, he was writing something that hasn’t been published at the time. We do believe in this manuscript he was trying to tell us what was happening,” Lucy went on.

End Flashback

“So since then we haven’t figured out where the ghost ran off to,” Daphne finished.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck than we did,” Shaggy said.

“I’m sure we will, Dad. Like Gloria said before, we’re tough,” Frank said, qouting his sister.

“So what your job is to find out where this old manuscript is,” Fred said.

“We already know that, Mom. Lucy came to us asking the same thing,” Danny told Daphne.

“She hired us to find the missing manuscript and who murdered him,” Ryan went on.

This story really did scare Linda and Keith. They still were too young for violence like this.

“I think you’re scaring the children,” Shaggy said, noticing the scared looks.

“We’ll start snooping around on this right away,” Gloria said.

The younger generation thought this was an interesting story their parents told them.

“We appreaciate your help on this one,” Daphne said.

“No problem, Mom. We’ll do our best, but we can’t promise anything,” Danny said.

“We know you will,” Shaggy told them.

“That night still haunts me,” Shaggy added.

The gang weren’t that frightened like Shaggy was. Dinner was finally over and both generations saw it was getting late. They got up and hugged their parents and then left.


	4. Chapter 4

The next mornig, Kylie and the gang made reservations to book a couple rooms in Salt Lake. After about less than twenty minutes, Ryan told the gang they now had a few rooms.

"Thanks, Ryan. We'll leave in an hour or so to get ready," Kylie said.

"Good idea. I'll call Mom real fast and ask if she could look after Keith and Linda."

"Danny and I will talk to the girls. I'm pretty much sure Claudia won't mind taking over for a while."

Kylie knew her second daughter had no certain kind of job for herself, but she would be happy to fill in for whoever would be away. Claudia had no experience to work for Kylie to take over the law firm. That was all right with her. Later that day, Kylie and Danny sat down to tell the three daughters about their latest murder.

"What new mystery are you and Mom going to work on now?" Heather, the eldest of the three daughters asked.

"Our newest mystery takes place in Salt Lake. A relative of one of the founders discovered the Latter – Day Saints Church to solve Joseph Smith's murder case," Danny answered.

"Daddy, even today nobody has figured this one out. Wish you lots of luck," Daphne, the youngest replied.

"We understand this will be a hard case to crack, but we're giving it a shot," Kylie told them.

"Be careful. This mystery is ancient history," Heather reminded them.

"We know, girls. We're also asking you to take care of the tenants while we're gone," Danny said.

"I somehow figured you would ask that," Claudia said.

"That's right, sweetheart, unless you're not available to take over," Danny said.

"I'm open," Claudia told them.

"Thank you for looking after the place. We really appreciate it. We leave pretty soon."

"So fast? You don't have any reservations," Daphne pointed out.

"That's where you're wrong, dear. We already made plans," Kylie returned.

"That was fast," Daphne replied.

After the girls left, Danny and Kylie left to search for their suitcases and carry – ons. Danny didn't want his mother to overload on his packing this time. Their last case, Daphne overstuffed his suitcase. Danny decided to give Daphne a call to let her know he and the gang were leaving soon.

"All right, Danny. I won't mind helping you pack," Daphne offered.

"Thanks, Mom, but there isn't much time today for you to help out. Maybe next time."

"All right."

Daphne wished him luck.

"We'll need it," he said and put the phone back in the cradle.

Their friend Jessica would start out driving the Mystery Machine since it was at her place.

Danny thought it made sense that Kylie would drive the new automobile on the trip so she could learn how to drive and use its controls. Jessica arrived at the apartment thirty minutes later. Ryan was with her already, but he sat in his normal seat, which was the back. Ryan and Jessica helped them pack their bags.

"We stopped by Mom's place to drop off Linda and Keith," Ryan spoke up.

Danny and Kylie didn't seem to care. Next Jessica drove over to pick up Gloria and Frank and then they were on the road.


	5. Chapter 5

While driving in the newly Mystery Machine, the A/C was on since the gang was feeling hot. The time on the dashboard read 3:37 in the afternoon. The gang had been in the SUV for a few hours, but had hoped they would get there by nightfall, while in the vehicle, Gloria did a bit of research on Joseph Smith.

"I looked up where Joseph Smith was before he died. He was in prison at the time. Our first stop to search in the crime scene. He was in this prison cell called Carthage Jail. It is (or was) located in Nauvoo, Illinois. The owners at the time agreed to have Smith there in order to protect him from the mob.

"Carthage Jail was a bit small, according to research. It's a jail of two floors, which was big enough for a few prisoners plus the owner and his wife. Smith at the time wasn't the only prisoner when the mob attacked him.

"Also according to research, Smith had his meals with the jailer and his wife. At that time, Smith had a room on the first floor. Eventually, the jailer became concerned about people who might fire at Smith through the windows and transferred in an upstairs cell.

"It was being hot after a few hours, Smith was allowed to stay in the jailer's room. While the jailer and his wife slept down in the parlor. At the time Smith was armed when the mob ran upstairs but had no luck trying to break in the bedroom Smith was staying in. Also according to research, Smith had defended himself along with his brother and a couple other men who were with him. Of course, we do know this was and still is a crime that's still unsolved," Gloria told the gang.

They found Gloria's research details interesting.

"Wow. Where there any witnesses?" Frank asked.

At this time he was the driver.

"Just one."

"So we'll have to check out the jail," Kylie replied.

"Good idea. We're supposed to clear our parents' names, right?" Ryan asked.

This was their job – to help their parents on the murder case. It was shortly after nightfall when the gang entered Salt Lake's Marriott Hotel.

Just like any other hotel, Marriott was pretty big. The hotel was not yet full of cars when Ryan parked the SUV in the parking lot. There were about fifteen or so parking spaces left. The new Mystery Machine looked a lot like the original van but the newly Mystery Machine was a bit more up – to – date. The newly Mystery Machine had some features the old one did not have so they enjoyed the new van.

The van stopped once Ryan found the perfect spot for the Mystery Machine. Since it was still new, Ryan and the gang didn't want the vehicle to be hit by any other car or truck, so the gang knew the car didn't have a choice to be bent even if it was still new. After turning the ignition off, the gang opened the trunk to collect their bags.

And to tell the truth, Kylie didn't want to picture how this case would look like in court. Neither did the rest of her friends. Kylie did not wish to change her friends' name of 2nd Generation of Mystery Inc to CSI: Utah. She wanted to keep the name their parents had from before so the fans would like to know there were going to be other generations to come. It was a little after nine – fifteen when she and her friends entered the hotel lobby.

The desk clerk was the only person at the desk when the gang entered her way.

"Hello. Welcome to Salt Lake Marriott. May I have your names?" a petite thirty – six – year – old woman asked.

She certainly looked to be a bit taller than Velma, the gang thought, maybe about two or four inches taller. She looked like her hair really needed a trim.

"Ms. Jones – Blake, Mr. Blake, Ms. Rogers and Mr. Rogers, Mr. Anderson and Ms. Anderson," Ryan told her.

"I meant first names, not just your last," she corrected, "so I would know what rooms you'll be staying here during your stay."

The gang read the nametag: Amanda.

"Kylie Jones – Blake, Daniel Blake, Gloria and Frank Rogers, Jessica and Ryan Anderson," Gloria spoke up.

Of course, Amanda didn't give them a good look to who they were.

"All right. Make sure to tell us your first and last names next time you return," Amanda reminded them.

"We'll try to remember this next time," Kylie told her as she pushed her blonde bangs from her face.

Amanda told them they were staying on the fourth floor in two rooms. Kylie was to bunk with Gloria and Jessica while Danny bunked in with Ryan and Frank. This time didn't take the gang long to unpack, but when they turned in for the night, it was 10:30. The gang turned the lights off and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Early the next morning, the gang awoke around seven – fifteen. Danny, Frank and Ryan were the first to go down to the hotel lobby. There was a different clerk on duty when he, Frank and Ryan entered to wait for the girls. The clerk looked in their direction and waved a friendly good morning. Danny, Frank and Ryan waved in return.

"Wait here," Danny told his friends.

"We're not going anywhere," Ryan said as Frank nodded in agreement.

The two friends looked in the other way when they saw Jessica, Kylie and Gloria head their way. Frank watched as Gloria shot a look in the direction of the hotel entrance, where Danny and the clerk were in conversation, but did get a glance in and saw Danny's mouth moving.

"What is Danny doing over there?" Gloria asked with curiosity.

"We're not sure. All we know is he told us to wait here and before we knew it, you girls came along," Frank told them.

That's when they saw Danny head their way. He could tell by the expression on his face, they wanted to know what he had told the clerk. The six friends walked in silence until they reached the van.

"I know what you guys are thinking," Danny said as everyone got into their usual places.

This time Kylie was the driver. They drove to a Denny's not too far from the Marriott. Once they walked in, the place didn't look busy much at all. A young woman who showed them where their table was, looking like she was a high school dropout. They thought she looked to be a sixteen – year – old.

They could tell she smelled of cigar. None of them liked the sound of this at all but didn't bother mentioning it to her. As soon as she left, Danny cleared his throat after taking a gulp of black coffee.

"We were wondering what you and the clerk were talking about," Frank told him.

"I'm going to tell. I was telling the clerk before we left, we checked in here last night and the night clerk was rude to us. He said he'd report her to the hotel manager so she'll be fired. I also told him we were going to check out this morning and he said he didn't blame us one bit," Danny said as a waiter took their orders.

"I wish we'd paid more attention to that last night, Danny," Jessica told him.

"What we will do is check out and head to the crime scene in Illinois," Gloria told the gang.

"I also looked up Carthage Jail last night. I made up a schedule for us to take a tour of the prison. We'll have more time tomorrow since we'll be in the car most of the day," Gloria added.

"The jail isn't a national park, Gloria," Danny told her.

"I know that. I looked up on my phone and the jail is more of a visitor center these days. This is why we're doing the tour to have a closer look at the room where he was murdered by the mob. I also know we'll have to come back again some other time to try looking for that manuscript that never got its publication."

The gang talked more about this case they were asked to work on.

"I sure don't want to picture what this would look like in court if we ever solve this mystery," Kylie replied.

"We don't either, Kylie. We'll have to see how much work we can work on," Frank told Kylie.

"How true," she returned.

After eating breakfast, Gloria offered to pay the bill this time. After using her MasterCard credit card, the gang was now ready to pack and check out. The six friends walked into the lobby in silence. Once again they separated to pack up. The girls took a bit more time since they bought a bit more things than the guys did. Last case they worked on without their leader, Kylie, Danny was the one who took up most of the time to pack and unpack, thanks to his mother, Daphne. The gang decided to meet within forty – five minutes so they could have more time to pack up. Jessica offered to collect the bill since she was the first to finish before the other two girls did. After packing, Jessica told her friends she was getting the bill and taking her suitcase with her.

After collecting the bill, Jessica told the clerk they were sorry to make a complaint on the one from the previous night.

"That's all right, Miss. We haven't had complaints in a while. I'm sure the manager would fire her tonight," he told her as her friends joined them.

The gang didn't catch a word what she was telling him.

After exiting out, Gloria asked, "Why were you talking with him, Jess?"

"I was just apologizing about last night. He said they haven't had any complaints for a while," Jessica answered as they finished putting the suitcases and buckled up.

"Gang, our next stop is to the crime scene," Gloria announced as they drove away.

The gang arrived to Illinois. Gloria opened the SUV doors to let her friends out.

"I scheduled a tour for us at the Carthage Jail to take a tour of it. I hope we can pick up a clue or two," Gloria said.

"I hope so, Gloria. Remember we're only here to clear our parents' names," Ryan reminded her.

"True. Let's go in. A tour is about to begin."

Just a few nights ago, Kylie updated their facebook page to tell the fans about their latest mystery. She would update soon. The gang walked in and found ten to fifteen people who were on the tour with them. The guide, whose name was Ralph, did all the talking. Jessica looked in Ralph's direction. He looked to be Kylie's age, maybe a couple of years older. Today he was professional. He was wearing red pants, along with the work outfit. The right of his shirt had the jail's logo. He finally began the tour.

"Located in western Illinois, just a few miles east of the Mississippi, Carthage is the county seat of Hancock County. This charming community has a rich historical story that interweaves with the Mormon Church. Other historical sites associated with Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Joseph Smith and local Indian tribes make the area a great place to visit. Carthage has a bright future that includes a safe and quiet place to live and work with a growing economy that revolves around agriculture and manufacturing. The area is rich in the recreational activities as well.

"Carthage is the home of the Old Carthage Jail and visitor's center, the historic Hancock County Courthouse, Kibble Museum. Carthage Lake, WOW Panc, an old fashioned downtown Square with a variety of shops, many recreational activities, and several special events year 'round. If you are interested in self – guided tours, take a look at some of the Hancock County's old barns, or take a walking tour in the heart of Carthage.

"Perhaps Carthage's most famous attraction is the Carthage Jail, which was the site where the Mormon leader, Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by an angry mob on 27 June, 1844. Their action resulted in the Mormons abandoning nearby Nauvoo on their famous treak west that led to the founding of Salt Lake City, Utah. More details of the mob action can be found here, courtesy of the LDS Church.

"Today, the "old jail" is one of the most well preserved historic buildings in Carthage. It was constructed of native yellow limestone in 1839 – 1841. It was used as the county jail until 1886 when a new jail was built on the town square. In 1938 the building was restored to its condition by Joseph McRae.

"In 1963 an additional building of the same type of stone was constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter – Day Saints. Here, visitors are received in air conditioned comfort, and the story of the Mormon Church is related."

While in the room on the second floor where the murder took place, Gloria snapped several pictures for them to share on faceoobk. Gloria always in charge of taking pictures on every case the pictures to their facebook page. Danny would be the one to comment by answering fans' questions.

Even Jessica as a reporter, wasn't very good at taking pictures, so she gave Gloria the job. Jessica herself was happier with pen and paper. She usually told readers about the cases they worked on and how they solved them. Ryan, his job on facebook was answering private messages from the fans while Frank shared Gloria's notes. When Frank wasn't there, Ryan would fill in.

While the tourists and guide left, the gang stayed behind. They wanted to see if they could find any clues. While the guide talked, Gloria bent down on her knees. She'd been studying the floor. She put a finger on the carpet. She didn't say anything to the gang. Her thought on the carpet was the murder took place when she bent down!

Gloria gave a scream as she took a shot of the bloodstream. The guide and other tourists were nearby.

"Wait here," the guide told them.

He wanted to see what the scream was all about.

"We heard a scream," he said.

The guide's comment made the gang jump, startled somebody was watching.

"Sorry we interrupted the tour, sir. I thought I saw something on this carpet," Gloria told her.

"We'll talk about this later. The tour is almost finished," Ralph told the gang.

"Perhaps we should," Danny told Ralph as they watched him walk out.

"Sorry I screamed a bit too loud," Gloria apologized to her friends.

"What made you scream on the carpet?" Ryan asked.

"Look down here," Gloria said, pointing.

Her friends bent down to see what Gloria was pointing.

"Carpet looks the same," Kylie said, squinting.

"I agree," the others said in unison.

"Well, you haven't looked very hard enough," Gloria said.

"Tell us, Sis," Frank said.

"I think we found our first clue."

"What makes you think we found a clue on this carpet?" Jessica asked, pushing her bangs from her face.

"Our first clue is this red spot here," Gloria replied, taking a few more pictures of the bloodstain.

"Why take pictures of the carpet?" Danny asked.

He and his friends couldn't figure out what she had been talking about, so they all gave one another a questioning look.

"Once these pictures are filmed clearly, I'll show you our first clue," Gloria said as she got up from her knees and putting the camera back in its case.

The gang had some dust on their clothes, so they brushed it off. It made Kylie sneeze. Kylie's sneeze was loud enough for people to hear.

The tour now ended. Ralph let the tourists leave. He couldn't give the tour while all of the interruptions from the gang. Ralph didn't seem to mind letting her tourists bring their cameras along. Tourist thing, Ralph thought to himself. Ralph walked back to the murder scene.

Ralph was well aware he had detectives on the tour. He didn't like detectives since they were always asking questions. He seemed not to notice or even care who the gang was.

"Would you mind telling me why the tour was disturbing?" he asked.

"I can answer that," Ryan said.

"Very well. After you give your story, I'm calling the police."

"We thought we spotted something on the carpet here," Ryan explained, pointing to the bloodstain where they had been standing.

"What about it?" Ralph asked carelessly.

"We thought we spotted something," Ryan told him, even if he didn't know what their clue was.

"I'd forget about this whole thing, sir. I'm calling the police since you came here just to disturb the tour," Ralph said, heading to a nearby telephone.

The telephone that was placed to a wall a couple of feet away. The gang watched Ralph talk in the receiver, but none of them couldn't figure out what his mouth was saying.

The gang saw the telephone was a bit on the old – fashioned side. It made the gang wonder if the black telephone was from either the 1800s or nineteen fifties, but it didn't make them bother to think asking Ralph, so they didn't bother.

"The sheriff is on his way, so stay right where you all are," Ralph said in an angry voice.

The gang could tell Ralph wasn't very friendly. Ralph seemed nice enough when the tour began, but he became angry after the tour. The gang felt Ralph sense he had snoopers on this tour. They watched him walk downstairs to wait for the sheriff. He made it within five to ten minutes.

"Where are they?" the gang heard a deep voice ask.

"Follow me, Sheriff. I happen to think they are detectives. I'm not answering any questions they plan to ask."

"You don't need to, sir."

Ralph walked into the murder scene with the sheriff. The six friends could tell the sheriff was a big guy. He looked to be in his fifties, maybe five years his senior. They could tell he recently shaved. He came over without paying any attention on what they looked like or even cared who they were.

"You are all under arrest of disturbing the peace," he said, grabbing six handcuffs.

The gang read his nametag: Sheriff Collins. The six friends have been in jail several times, so they knew what it was like behind bars. Their eyes said silently one to another, here we go again!


	7. Chapter 7

While behind bars, the gang were talking.

"You're a lawyer, Kylie. When the sheriff gets back, you think you could bail all of us out?" Frank asked.

"I could try. If it doesn't work, then we will have to call on someone else."

Kylie was right.

"We need to get a move on and start looking for clues," Jessica said.

Everyone agreed to what Jessica said.

"Do we have any other clues from what you found at the jail?" Ryan asked.

"I'm not so sure. Once we get out of here, we can research any type of clues. I'll even show you guys the clue I found from the carpet," Gloria remarked.

Everyone thought that was a good idea and went along with what Gloria told them. One of the officers on duty arrived to their cell to see how they were doing.

"Officer?" Kylie spoke up.

The officer's nametage read: "Officer Bill Miller." He had dark brown hair, which looked like it was starting to gray, light black eyes, rough hands, uniform, which was light tan and white. Even the cap matched the uniform and pants. He was wearing old tennis shoes and also an old pair of white socks. A cop like him usually wore old socks when they were investigating a crime scene since the crime involved blood.

He looked at the gang.

"Yes, ma'am?" he asked in a tired voice.

He sounded like he hadn't slept in the past four days. Probably his schedule kept him up, the gang thought silently.

"Is it all right we leave?" Kylie asked.

"Boss said to wait for a couple more hours, Miss. You'll need to call a lawyer to bail you out."

That's when Danny cleared his throat. Officer Miller looked in Danny's direction.

"Yes, sir?" he asked Danny.

"Ms. Jones – Blake is a lawyer, Officer. Is there any way she could still bail us out?" Danny asked.

"Let me talk to the boss and I'll let you know," he said and left again.

"I kinda doubt if the sheriff will let us free with a lawyer like you behind bars," Jessica said.

Ryan punched her in her thighs.

"What was that about?"

"Just telling you not to think negative, Sis."

"Sorry. I guess my mind wasn't thinking."

Nobody else said a word. Officer Miller returned, keys in his arms. The gang had been behind bars for forty – eight hours.

"Spoke with the boss. He said since you have a lawyer with you, it was all right with him you all can go. He also said if you ever do this again, you will all be back."

The gang watched as the key gave a squeak once the officer turned the lock.

"Thank you, Officer," Frank said.

Officer Miller said no more once the six friends walked out of the cell freely. Once the gang were back in the outdoors, the sun told them it was past twelve in the afternoon. The gang were famished and heard all six stomachs growl at once.

"Let's get something to eat. I'm hungry," Gloria suggested.

"Good idea, Sis. I'm hungry too," Frank agreed, thinking his sister was right.

Danny was the one with the van's keys, so he opened the doors to let his friends in the SUV. He offered to drive them to the nearest restaurant.

"Now we're out of prison, gang, we now can start searching for clues. When we find a place to eat, I will share you the clue we found at Carthage Jail," Gloria said, grabbing out her cell phone.

"Good idea. Why did you make us kneel down to the carpet?" Kylie asked.

That was something she and the gang still couldn't figure out.

"I will show you why I did that," Gloria said, flipping through the pictures she'd taken from the tour.

"Pictures from the tour?" Ryan asked, squinting his eyes for a better look.

"Yes."

They decided to eat at a Pizza Hut that wasn't very far from the police station.

"Is Pizza Hut okay with you?" Danny asked.

Everyone else went along with his plan. Once the SUV was parked in the parking lot, Danny stopped the engine. He and the gang saw the parking lot was almost full, so they were able to find a spot.

Once the six friends climbed out, Kylie led them in. When Kylie opened the glass door for her friends, the gang walked in to put their name in. They heard all sorts of conversations the gang couldn't hear what the other customers were talking about. A young man was in front of them. They gave their name out to him.

"How long is the wait?" Jessica asked.

The nametag told them his name was Jason. He looked to be a college student who looked like he was on his junior year.

"It's going to be about a forty – minute wait."

"Thanks," Gloria said.

Today Jason's light red hair was close enough to know he needed it to be washed. He looked like there were dark circles in his eyes.

So it made the gang see this young kid needed rest big time but it was none of their business what he was studying or what school he was in. The gang took their beeper with them and decided to wait outdoors in the cool breeze. Today the weather told them it was supposed to be in the late thirties, since it was to be breezy and chilly outdoors along with wind, so they were thankful they packed their coats along.

To tell the truth, the gang had their coats on and zipped while they were sitting on the benches. That's when the gang watched Gloria flip on her cell once more. She already had the picture to the clue she'd found on the carpet.

"Here's why I made you all bend down," Gloria said as the gang got closer to the cell phone.

Once again the gang had to squint.

"What is that, Sis?" Frank asked.

"It is a clue Joseph Smith had left but I doubt the police caught this clue. When he died, he left a bloodstain so it was easy to miss, but nobody offered to clean it up."

"Good job, Gloria. At least it is our first clue," Ryan replied.

"I happen to think we also found a second clue."

"What?" everyone asked in unison.

"I did a bit more research on Smith's past. Here is our next clue:

When he was writing, I found this," Gloria said as she read aloud the clues to them.

"Here we are," Gloria said, trying to find the right page.

"Smith's circa summer 1832 history was inscribed in the front of a medium – sized, commercially produced blank book. The book's ledger paper in horizontally ruled within thirty – six (now faint) blue lines and vertically ruled with four red lines. The original book apparently continued nine gathering of twelve leaves each, but eight leaves each, but eight leaves have been cut from the final gathering."

"The pastedowns and flyleaves were blank white paper. The volume was constructed with front and back covers of calfskins and quarter – leather binding. The bound book measured 12 7/8 x 8 7/8 cm. The outside covers are adorned in shell marveled paper, with brown loosely and veins of blue and red. The front pastedown bears the inscriptions c= cli probably original merchandising notes. The original front flyleaf, and any inscriptions it may have done, is no longer extant.

"The first five pages of the history were numbered by Williams. Later, the book was turned over so the back cover became the front and the last page became the first. One or more texts were inscribed in this side (the back) of the book, as is evident from inscriptions visible on the remaining stubs of the eight – now – excised leaves. The volume was also repurposed as a letterbook. Beginning on the records of he fourth leave in the front of the book (immediately following the history) are ninety – three pages of copied outgoing letters, dated 14 June 1829 through August 1835, in the handwriting of Williams, Smith, and Orson Clyde, and Oliver Cowdery.

"The book's pagination also began anew with the copied letters. The first page of letters bore the inscription. "la," which is only partially legible on the now – trimmed pages but is complete in photography and microfilm copies at the Church History Library. The front flyleaf is missing perhaps it bore a title related to the history and was removed when the volume was converted to a letterbook. The back flyleaf is also missing. At some point, Williams began an index for the letter. This incomplete index is inscribed on paper that does not match the original ledger paper. It was apparently a loose leaf inserted in the volume – as a result of Revelation Book 2 although it is currently bound in the volume as a result of late 20th century conversation. This index does not list the history.

"A reconstruction of the physical history of the artificial helps explain the current material context of the document. Photocopy and microfilm images of the book, as well as an inspection of the conversation work now present in the volume, indicate that the text block separated from the binding at some point. Also, the three leaves containing the history were excised from the volume. Manuscript evidence suggests that these editions took place in the mid – 20th century. A tear of the third leave, which evidently occurred during its exision, was probably mended at the time.

"This tear was mended with clear cellophane tape, which was invented in 1930. The three leaves of the history certainly had been removed by 1965, when they were described as "cut out," size and paper stack of the three excised leaves match of the other leaves in the book. Also, the cut and tear marks, as well as the inscriptions in the gutters of the three excised leaves, match those of the remaining leaf – stubs, confirming their original location in the book.

"The three leaves were later restored to the volume, apparently in the 1990s. This restoration was probably part of a larger conversation effort that took place, in which the volume shows marked browning brittleness, and wear. It is listed in Nauvoo, Illinois, and early Salt Lake City, Utah, invention made by the Church Historian's Office, as well, as in the 1973 register of the Smith Collection, including continuous institutional custody," Gloria read.

That was when the gang ordered their meals. Gloria had been so into the flyleaf research she didn't realize it was time to order. Ryan, who was sitting next to her, tapped her on the shoulder.

"Time to order," Ryan told her.

"Sorry."


	8. Chapter 8

Once the gang left after paying for their meal, it was Gloria's turn to drive the Mystery Machine to everybody's workplace. Danny was a landlord, so she drove him back to his apartment where he and Kylie lived. After dropping Danny off, Gloria went to her own place. She still wanted to research more on this Joseph Smith murder. Once she parked the Mystery Machine in her driveway, she unlocked the front door and went straight to her laptop. She once again punched in Joseph Smith.

She had found this murder mystery very interesting even if the police did mention it was an ongoing investigation. She hoped she and her friends would find the missing manuscript, but she did know it would be a longshot, but she didn't want to give it up.

Knowing Kylie, she was the same way when solving a mystery, so she understood how her friends felt. She already crossed off the Carthrage Jail tour of the list so yes, it was already done. She and her friends never liked the tour guide who gave them the tour. She thought he was rude. How did he know he had detectives in his tour that day? That was something she wasn't able to figure out. 'I'll be sure to mention this to the gang about my thought of the tour guide. Maybe they'll agree to what my theory was. Why did I notice that before when we finished the tour?' She jotted that thought down so she wouldn't forget to mention this to the gang next time they got together.

She was reading more research on Smith. Here's what she found:

There are varying accounts of what happened next. Taylor and Richards's accounts state that Smith was dead when he landed after his fall. One eye witness, William Daniels, wrote in his 1845 account that Smith was alive when mob members popped his body against a nearby well, assembled a makeshift firing squad, and shot him before fleeing. Daniels' account also states that one man tried to decopitate Smith for a bounty, but was prevented by divine intervention. There were additional reports that thunder and lightning frightened the mob off. Mob members fled, shouting, "The Mormons are coming," although there was no such force nearby.

Smith did not earnestly resume dictation again until April 1829, when he met Oliver Cowdery, who replaced Harris as Smith's scribe. They worked full – time on the manuscript between April and early June, 1829, and then moved to Fayette, New York, where they continued to work on the home of Cowdery's friend Peter Whitmer. When the narrative spoke of an institutional church and a requirement for baptism, Smith and Cowedry baptized each other. Dictation was completed around 1 July, 1829.

Although Smith had previously refused to show the plates to anyone, he told Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer that they would be allowed to see them. These men, known collectively as the Three Witnesses – along with a later group of male members of the Whitmer and Smith families – signed statements testifying that they had seen the golden plates; the eight witnesses also claimed to have actually handled the plates. According to Smith, the angel Maroni took back the plates after Smith was finished using them.

The completed work, known as the Book of Mormon, was published in Palmyra on March 26, 1830, by prinster E. B. Grasndin. Martin financed the publication by mortaging his farm. Soon after, on 6 April 1830, Smith and his followers formally organized the Church of Christ, and small branches were established in Palmyra, Fayette, and Colesville, New York. The Book of Mormon brought Smith regional notoriety, but also strong opposition by those who remembered Smith's money – digging and his 1826 trial near Colesville. After Cowdery baptized several new members, the Mormons began receiving threats of mob violence. Before Smith could confirm the newly baptized members, he and Cowdery had to flee Colesville to escape gathering mob. Probably referring to this period of flight, Smith late told a visititation by Peter, James, and John who he said ordained Smith and Cowdery to a higher preisthood.

Early on, Smith began receiving oppostion from Oliver Cowdery, Hiram Page, and other church members who claimed to receive compleing revelations undermining Smith's authority. In response, Smith dictated a revelation which laid out church procedures and conference, Smith dispatched Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, and others on a mission to proselyise the Native Americans. Cowdery was also assigned the task of locating a site to build a New Jerusalem.

In October 1827, Smith and his pregnant wife moved from Palymra to Harmony (now Oakland, Pennsylvania) aided by money from a comparatively prosperous neighbor Martin Harris. Living near his in – laws, Smith transcribed some characters which he said were engraved on the plates, and then dictated a translation to his wife.

In Feburary 1826, Martin Harris arrived to assist Smith, transcribing and as Smith dictated. Harris took a sample of the characters to a few prominet scholars, including Charles Anthen, who Harris said intitally authenticated upon hearing that Smith had received the plates from an angel. Anthen later denied this description of events, claiming instead that he had tried to convince Harris that he was a victim of a fraud. Harris, however, returning to Harmony in April 1828, motivated to continue as Smith's scribe.

In October 1827, Smith and his pregnant wife moved from Palymra to Harmony (now Oakland, Pennsylvania) aided by money from a comparatively prosperous neighbor Martin Harris. Living near his in – laws, Smith transcribed some characters which he said were engraved on the plates, and then dictated a translation to his wife.

Carthage Jail, located in Carthage, Illinois, was the location of the death of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter – Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum by a mob of apporximately 150 men. Friends John Taylor and Willard Richards were also members of the incarerated party, but were not killed. The group had reported to Carthage, the county seat, to face charges bought against Joseph. On June 27, 1844, a mob stormed the upper room of the prison and killed Joseph and Hyrum. John Taylor was badly wounded and Willard Richards was scathed, but not seriously injured.

The jail was built in 1839. Constructed of native Munice creek shale, the two – story, rectangular, gable – front building measures twenty – nine by thirty – five feet. Like other county jails in Illinois, Carthage Jail was built and incarerate petty thieves, and debtors and to serve as a temporary holding place for violent criminals. It hovised a betor's room in the northwest corner of the first floor, and a dungeon, or "criminal cell" on the second floor, north side. There was also a living area for the jailer's family that included a kitchen, a dining room, and bedrooms.

The Carthage Jail is currently restored to an appreminun of its condition at the time of the Smiths' deaths. The site and the city block it stands on its currently owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter – Day Saints, and has been established as a historic site and visitor's center.

In October 1827, Smith and his pregnant wife moved from Palymra to Harmony (now Oakland, Pennsylvania) aided by money from a comparatively prosperous neighbor Martin Harris. Living near his in – laws, Smith transcribed some characters which he said were engraved on the plates, and then dictated a translation to his wife.

In Feburary 1826, Martin Harris arrived to assist Smith, transcribing and as Smith dictated. Harris took a sample of the characters to a few prominet scholars, including Charles Anthen, who Harris said intially authenticated upon hearing that Smith had received the plates from an angel. Anthen later denied this description of events, claiming instead that he had tried to convince Harris that he was a victim of a fraud. Harris, however, returning to Harmony in April 1828, motivated to continue as Smith's scribe.

Smith continued to dictate to Harris until mid – June 1828, until Harris began having doubts about the project, fueled in part by his wife's skepticism. Harris convinced Smith to let him take the existing 116 pages of manuscript to Palmyra to show a few family members, including his wife. Harris lost the manuscript – of which there was no copy – at about the same time as Smith's wife Emma gave birth to a stillborn son. Smith said that punishment for losing the manuscript the angel took away the plates and he had lost his ability to translate until September 23, 1826, when Smith said that the plate was given back to him.

Carthage Jail, located in Carthage, Illinois, was the location of the death of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter – Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum by a mob of approximately 150 men. Friends John Taylor and Willard Richards were also members of the incarerated party, but were not killed. The group had reported to Carthage, the county seat, to face charges bought against Joseph. On June 27, 1844, a mob stormed the upper room of the prison and killed Joseph and Hyrum. John Taylor was badly wounded and Willard Richards was scathed, but not seriously injured.

The jail was built in 1839. Constructed of native Munice creek shale, the two – story, rectangular, gable – front building measures twenty – nine by thirty – five feet. Like other county jails in Illinois, Carthage Jail was built and incarerate petty thieves, and debtors and to serve as a temporary holding place for violent criminals. It hovised a betor's room in the northwest corner of the first floor, and a dungeon, or "criminal cell" on the second floor, north side. There was also a living area for the jailer's family that included a kitchen, a dining room, and bedrooms.

The Carthage Jail is currently restored to an appreminun of its condition at the time of the Smiths' deaths. The site and the city block it stands on its currently owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter – Day Saints, and has been established as a historic site and visitor's center.

She stopped to pause. After reading what she just saw, again it was interesting to her. She'll do more research on this later. She didn't pay much attention on how fast time had went. It was now ten – fifteen when she decided to stop her research on this mystery for the night, but she usually tossed and turned when she and her friends have a mystery to solve just like this one. It meant to her that if she tossed and turned at night, she won't get any sleep. That night, she was up without trying to go to sleep. 'I can't sleep. Resrarch is keeping me up. Why does this always have to happen when the gang and I are at work solving a mystery? I don't get it. I wish I could stop tossing and turning and get a good – night's sleep.'


	9. Chapter 9

About a week or two later, the gang had some free time to catch up with one another and talk ideas about to solve this murder case they worked on. Since the Joseph Smith murder opened up to them to solve the murder, the gang couldn't find anymore new clues to add on. Once again, Kylie didn't want to leave this case opened, but sometimes you have to leave as is.

"Does anybody have any new ideas to keep working on Joseph Smith?"

Kylie was the first to speak. Everyone shook their heads, telling their leader they didn't think of anything recently.

"I don't want to leave this mystery unsolved. You know from the 1800s the police never really found much evidence to keep working on the case, and today is just like that," Kylie reminded the gang.

"Kylie's right," Gloria agreed.

"I think I have something that might be of interest," Frank began.

"What's that?" Jessica asked.

"I'm beginning to guess his wives could be a part of his murder," Frank told his friends.

"You make a lot of sense, Frank. We would never have thought about that one," Ryan said.

Kylie and the others nodded in agreement.

"We already know Joseph Smith had multiple wives and marriages. I don't think any of the Mormon families do that sort of thing, but we all know Mormons have big families," Gloria told them.

"She's right. Do we need to call on Lucy for this?" Danny asked.

"We will get around to that, Danny, but for now we'll leave that as is for now. She might know an idea to help us out," Gloria told him.

As usual, Ryan didn't talk very much. He'd rather listen than talk. He never really was a sensitive person, but sometimes he could be on the shy side.

"We'll get together again and talk about this," Kylie told her friends.

After she said that, they were already out of the door.


	10. Chapter 10

In her office, Kylie wasn't too sure if Joseph Smith's wives could be involved with his murder. From what she and her friends learned from research, there was nothing that told them about the wives involved with the mob at Carthridge Jail. Even the tour guide didn't see anything that sounded important to share with tourists learning anything with Joseph's wives. She did doubted what Frank's thinking that the mob told the wives to get involved.

She sighed, and kept thinking about the conversation with the gang on the topic about Joseph Smith. So far Gloria found a clue when they visited the jail. Gloria always worked hard when it comes to research. She did have that feeling Gloria had found the most important clue – Joseph Smith's blood. She thought about sending Gloria a text message about it.

So that's what Kylie did – grabbed her cell phone and sent her friend a text message. Here's what she sent:

Gloria, I just came up with an idea or so on about the blood stain that Joseph Smith left behind when the mob shot him at the jail. I'd like it if you would send that clue over to me. I think there was something strange about it, but I'm not so sure. There is no hurry to text me the clue. At least that clue is the most important for the mystery. Kylie

Gloria didn't see Kylie's message until later that evening. From what Kylie said in her message was true the blood stain was the best clue she'd found while at the tour before the tour guide sent the sheriff to lock her and her friends behind bars. Once she'd taken the picture on the phone, she signed in on their fan page to share the latest in the mystery.

Gloria did see Kylie had a point, but it still made her want to call Lucy about this and see if she knew anything about Joseph Smith's blood stain he left to her and the gang to find, and it really worked. She saw the time on her clock in her bedroom: 10:45. She figured it was later for her to send a text to Kylie, and she figured it sounded right to wait until morning. All this research made her tired, and she slept the whole night without getting up in the middle of the night. She thought to herself, It's time to do more research.


	11. Chapter 11

Meanwhile, Danny, Jessica, and Ryan were sitting in the hotel, having a conversation about the murder mystery. They were all running out of ideas.

"Any idea what we should do next? Contact our parents?" Jessica asked.

"I think it might be the right time to do so, Jess," Danny agreed.

Kylie and Gloria joined them a few minutes later.

"Sorry we didn't join you right away. I wanted to wash my hair," Kylie said.

"That's all right. Whenever your hair is dirty or clean, I still love playing with it," Danny told her as she sat down next to Jessica.

Since Kylie wasn't sitting close to him, Danny felt bad because he couldn't give her a kiss or play with some of her blonde hair.

"We've been talking, girls. We think it's a good idea to call our parents and see if there is anything they would like to suggest," Ryan spoke up.

"Good idea, Ryan. Let's do that when we're finished here," Gloria told her brother.

After that, Ryan said nothing more.

"Maybe our parents might have a few clues for us from Lucy back then. Maybe they have some ideas on Smith's wives," Jessica said.

"I haven't thought about his wives quite yet. Isn't it a bit too early for that?" Gloria asked.

"Maybe so, but it's always a good idea to look into it," Danny said.

"I agree," Kylie said, nodding her head in agreement.

Once the group finished eating their breakfast, they headed upstairs. It was a good idea to grab their cell phones and then make the call while in the Mystery Machine.

"Who wants to drive first?" Kylie asked once they entered the hotel's parking lot.

"I guess I will," Danny said, taking the car keys from her hand.

When he said that, he bent over and gave Kylie a few kisses on the cheeks. She always loved how Danny played with her hair, but today was no time for that. Maybe next time they were alone, he could do so but right now was supposed to be busy.

Gloria opened her phone and called Shaggy back home.

She listened to the phone ring for a while until Shaggy was able to pick up the receiver. She and Ryan remembered Shaggy was slowing down like the rest of his friends since they were so old today so it was understandable, but even then they had to yell at their parents so they could hear them perfectly, but yes, their parents had hearing aids.

"Hi, Dad," Gloria said.

"Who is this?" Shaggy asked.

He did have a bit of trouble remembering her voice, and Gloria understood that since his memory wasn't as good as it was back then when he was their age, but his interest in food was still in good shape.

"It's me, Dad. Gloria," she said.

Now Shaggy was getting the picture.

"Thank you for calling, sweetheart. Find anything new?" Shaggy asked.

"We did, but we'll share it with you once the mystery is solved," Gloria answered.

"That's too long to wait, dear. We would like to have an update," Shaggy said, then added, "why did you call me for?"

"Oh, we were talking about the murder case of Smith, and Frank came up with something of interest," Gloria told him.

"What's that?" Shaggy asked her.

"He thinks Smith's wives might be involved with the mob," Gloria answered.

"This is creepy, dear. Spit it out," Shaggy said.

"I told the gang it's a bit early to work on the wives, we wanted to see what you think," Gloria replied.

"All right. Is Lucy involved in this conversation too?" Shaggy asked, still not understanding what she had just told him.

"We're thinking it might be a good idea. Why don't you go ahead and call her?" Gloria asked him.

"I'd like to call the gang and we'll decide on it," Shaggy told his daughter.

"Okay. You know how to reach me," Gloria said.

And that was the end of the conversation.

"What did Dad say?" Frank asked.

"He said he'd pass this bit of information on to our parents and discuss when Lucy should be in the picture again," Gloria replied.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Jessica agreed.


	12. Chapter 12

Several minutes later, Shaggy was able to have his friends come and join him. He told them about Gloria calling him. Once his friends walked into the house and found someplace to sit, Shaggy spoke up.

"Gang, Gloria called," Shaggy began.

"Anything new on the case?" Daphne asked, still interested in what their children had found.

"She said Frank came up with an idea. He thinks the wives Joseph Smith married could be involved with the mob," Shaggy answered.

"Never thought of that one. At least he makes sense," Fred said, agreeing to Gloria's phone call.

"That was something we might've missed while trying to solve the mystery forty years ago. No wonder we never thought of that but maybe our kids have a point on Joseph Smith's wives," Velma said.

"Probably. Has Gloria started the research on Joseph Smith's wives? I thought I heard he had forty of them," Velma remarked.

"Forty wives? You have to be kidding," Shaggy said.

"That's true, Shaggy, but back then it was common for Mormons to have more than one family with different women. They don't do that today," Velma said.

Shaggy didn't reply.

"Maybe we had other ideas on this mystery forty years ago and never bothered to find out about the wives he had to get involved on the murder, but maybe our children could probably let us know what they thought of how to solve this mystery, but we did give it a try for a historical mystery," Daphne said.

"Daph has a point there, but I know we'll get together with our children next time and they can tell us what else they would come up with. It's taking the police a long time to come up with that murder to be solved for sure," Fred agreed.

After that, the conversation ended.


	13. Chapter 13

The following week, the 2nd Generation of Mystery Inc. got together that afternoon at lunch in Kylie’s office. 

“Any research on Joseph Smith’s wives we need to find out about?” Kylie asked, taking a bite of her taco she ordered from Taco Bell.

“I think I researched them on Google, but some of the wives researchers didn’t know about a lot of them so they left question marks,” Gloria answered.

“What did you come up with?” Danny asked.

“Did you get to read about his first wive, Emma?” Frank asked.

“Yes, I did. Why don’t we make a fast call and see what Lucy would say? Maybe we could get a last – minute get – together with Lucy?” Ryan asked.

“We’ll do that right now, but we don’t know what kind of schedule she has, but we’ll give it a shot,” Kylie said, reaching for her telephone.

The gang listened to the phone for a while before they heard Lucy’s voice say, “Hello?”

“Hi, Lucy. Kylie Jones – Blake from Mystery Inc. We’d like to see you now if you’re not busy doing anything,” Kylie said.

“I’m not doing anything right now, but I can come over to your office. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes or less,” Lucy said and disconnected.

Fifteen minutes later, Patsy showed Lucy into the office.

“Thank you, Patsy. We’ll take over from here,” Kylie told her secretary.

Patsy closed the door behind Lucy and didn’t say a word.

“What did you want to see me for?” Lucy asked.

“Frank here had an idea, and go ahead on what you told us,” Danny said to their friend.

“Right. I thought maybe the wives had something to do being involved with his murder while in jail,” Frank said.

“That’s something the police might never thought of, but you have a good point,” Lucy said. 

 

“Why don’t you start off with Joseph’s first wife, Emma?” Gloria asked.

She didn’t know much about Emma except from what she read on Google. She hoped she could learn more from what research told her.

“Okay. I guess I could start off with Emma and I’ll let you all decide who you want for the next update on the wives,” Lucy said.

“That would be great,” Danny said, “and you now can start the story.”

Okay. I learned about it a long time ago. 

Flashback:

Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was the first wife of Joseph Smith and a leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement during Joseph's lifetime and afterward as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church). In 1842, she was named as the first president of the Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo, a women's service organization.

Emma Hale was born in Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, the seventh child of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis Hale. Emma first met her future husband, Joseph Smith, in 1825. Smith lived near Palmyra, New York, but boarded with the Hales in Harmony while he was employed in a company of men hoping to unearth buried treasure. Although the company found no treasure, Smith returned to Harmony several times to court Emma. Isaac Hale refused to allow the marriage because he considered Smith's occupation disreputable. On January 17, 1827, Smith and Emma eloped across the state line to South Bainbridge, New York, where they were married the  
following day. The couple moved to the home of Smith's parents on the edge of Manchester Township near Palmyra.

On September 22, 1827, Joseph and Emma took a horse and carriage belonging to Joseph Knight, Sr., and went to a hill now known as the Hill Cumorah where Joseph said he received a set of golden plates. This created a great deal of excitement in the area. In December 1827, the couple decided to move to Harmony, where they reconciled—to some extent—with Isaac and Elizabeth Hale. Emma's parents helped her and Joseph obtain a house and a small farm. Once they settled in, Joseph began work on the Book of Mormon with Emma acting as a scribe. She became a physical witness of the plates, reporting that she felt them through a cloth, traced the pages through the cloth with her fingers, heard the metallic sound they made as she moved them, and felt their weight. She later wrote in an interview with her son, Joseph Smith III: "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us." In Harmony on June 15, 1828, Emma gave birth to her first child—a son named Alvin—who lived only a few hours.

In May 1829, Emma and Joseph left Harmony and went to live with David Whitmer in Fayette, New York. While there, Joseph finished work on the Book of Mormon, which was published in March 1830.

On April 6, 1830, Joseph and five other men established the Church of Christ.  
Emma was baptized by Oliver Cowdery on June 28, 1830, in Colesville, New York, where an early branch of the church was established. During the next weeks, Joseph was arrested, tried and exonerated in South Bainbridge for "glass looking" based on the state's vagrancy law. Shortly thereafter, Joseph reported a revelation which instructed her to "murmur not" but also comforted her with the assurance, "thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called." The revelation goes on to state that Emma would "be ordained under [Joseph's] hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church" and further authorizes Emma to "make a selection of sacred Hymns" for the church.

Joseph and Emma returned to Harmony for a time, but relations with Emma's parents broke down, and the couple went back to staying in the homes of members of the growing church. They lived first with the Whitmers in Fayette, then with Newel K. Whitney and his family in Kirtland, Ohio, and then into a cabin on a farm owned by Isaac Morley. It was here on April 30, 1831, that Emma gave premature birth to twins, Thaddeus and Louisa; both babies died hours later. That same day, Julia Clapp Murdock died giving birth to twins, Joseph and Julia. When the twins were nine days old, their father, John, gave the infants to the Smiths to raise as their own. On September 2, 1831, the Smiths moved into John Johnson's home in Hiram, Ohio. The infant Joseph died of exposure or pneumonia in late March 1832, after a door was left open during a mob attack on Smith.

“No one but God knows the reflections of my mind and the feelings of my heart when I left our house and home, and almost all of everything that we possessed excepting our little children, and took my journey out of the State of Missouri, leaving [Joseph] shut up in that lonesome prison. But the reflection is more than human nature ought to bear, and if God does not record our sufferings and avenge our wrongs on them that are guilty, I shall be sadly mistaken.”

Early years in Nauvoo, 1839–44  
Emma and her family lived with friendly non-Mormons John and Sarah Cleveland in Quincy, Illinois, until Joseph escaped custody in Missouri. The family moved to a new Latter Day Saint settlement in Illinois which Joseph named "Nauvoo." On May 9, 1839, they moved into a two-story log house there which they called the "Homestead." They lived there until 1842, when a much larger house, known as the "Mansion House" was built across the street. A wing (no longer extant) was added to this house, which Emma operated as a hotel.

On March 24, 1842, the Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo was formally organized as the women's auxiliary to the church. Emma became its founding president, with Sarah M. Cleveland and Elizabeth Ann Whitney as her counselors. According to the minutes of the founding meeting, the organization was formed to "provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the wants of the poor, [search] after objects of charity [and] to assist by correcting the virtues of the female community". Shortly before this, Joseph had initiated the Anointed Quorum—a prayer-circle of important men and women in the church that included Emma.

Rumors concerning polygamy and other practices erupted into the open by 1842. Emma was involved in campaigns to publicly condemn polygamy and deny any involvement by her husband. Emma authorized and was the main signatory of a petition in summer 1842, with a thousand female signatures, denying Joseph Smith was connected with polygamy. As president of the Ladies' Relief Society, she authorized the publishing of a certificate in October 1842 denouncing polygamy and denying her husband as its creator or participant. In March 1844, Emma published:

We raise our voices and hands against John C. Bennett's 'spiritual wife system', as a scheme of profligates to seduce women; and they that harp upon it, wish to make it popular for the convenience of their own cupidity; wherefore, while the marriage bed, undefiled is honorable, let polygamy, bigamy, fornication, adultery, and prostitution, be frowned out of the hearts of honest men to drop in the gulf of fallen nature.

In June 1844, with the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor by disaffected former church members, the press was destroyed by the town marshal on orders from the town council (of which Joseph was a member), which set into motion the events that ultimately led to his arrest and incarceration in the jail in Carthage, Illinois. While he was there, a mob of about 200 armed men stormed the jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844, and both Joseph and his brother, Hyrum, were killed.

Joseph's death threw both the church and Emma's family into disorder. Emma was left a pregnant widow—it would be on November 17, 1844, that she gave birth to David Hyrum Smith, the last child she and Joseph had together. In addition to being church president, Joseph had been trustee-in-trust for the church. As a result, his estate was entirely wrapped up with the finances of the church. Untangling the church's property and debts from Emma's personal property and debts proved to be a long and potentially dangerous process for Emma and her family.

The church itself was left with no clear successor and a succession crisis ensued. Emma wanted William Marks, president of the church's central stake, to assume the church presidency, but Marks favored Sidney Rigdon for the role. After a meeting on August 8, a congregation of the church voted that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles should lead the church. Brigham Young, president of the Quorum, then became de facto president of the church in Nauvoo.

Relations between Young and Emma steadily deteriorated. Emma's friends, as well as members of the Smith family, were alienated from Young's followers. Relations between the Latter Day Saints and their neighbors also declined into near open warfare, and eventually Young made the decision to relocate the church to the Salt Lake Valley. When he and the majority of the Latter Day Saints of Nauvoo abandoned the city in early 1846, Emma and her children remained behind in the emptied town.

Nearly two years later, a close friend and non-Mormon, Major Lewis C. Bidamon, proposed marriage and became Emma's second husband on December 23, 1847. Bidamon moved into the Mansion House and became stepfather to Emma's children. Emma and Bidamon attempted to operate a store and to continue using their large house as a hotel, but Nauvoo had too few residents and visitors to make either venture very profitable. Emma and her family remained rich in real estate but poor in capital.

Unlike other members of the Smith family who had at times favored the claims of James J. Strang or William Smith, Emma and her children continued to live in Nauvoo as unaffiliated Latter Day Saints. Many Latter Day Saints believed that her eldest son, Joseph Smith III, would one day be called to hold the same position that his father had held. When he reported receiving a calling from God to take his father's place as head of a "New Organization" of the Latter Day Saint church, she supported his decision. Both she and Joseph III traveled to a conference at Amboy, Illinois and on April 6, 1860, Joseph was sustained as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which added the word "Reorganized" to the name in 1872 and is presently known as the Community of Christ. Emma became a member of the LDS Church without rebaptism, as her original 1830 baptism was still considered valid.

Emma and Joseph III returned to Nauvoo after the conference and he led the church from there until moving to Plano, Illinois in 1866. Joseph III called upon his mother to help prepare a hymnal for the reorganization, just as she had for the early church.

Major Bidamon renovated a portion of the unfinished Nauvoo House hotel (across the street from the Mansion House) and he and Emma moved there in 1871. Emma died peacefully in the Nauvoo House. Her funeral was held May 2, 1879 in Nauvoo with LDS Church minister Mark Hill Forscutt preaching the sermon.

The first Latter Day Saint hymnal, which was compiled by Emma, came off the press in 1836 (possibly late 1835) at Kirtland, Ohio.[13] It was titled A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints and contained 90 hymn texts, but no music. More than half of the texts were borrowed from Protestant groups, but often changed slightly to reinforce the theology of the early church. For example, Hymn 15, changed Isaac Watts's Joy to the World from a song about Christmas to a song about the return of Christ (see Joy to the World (Phelps)). Many of these changes and a large number of the original songs included in the hymnal are attributed to W. W. Phelps.  
Emma also compiled a second hymnal by the same title, which was published in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1841. This contained 304 hymn texts.

When her son Joseph III became president of the LDS Church, she was again asked to compile a hymnal. Latter Day Saints' Selection of Hymns was published in 1861.

Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, in their biography, Mormon Enigma, make the claim that Emma witnessed several marriages of Joseph Smith to plural wives. However, throughout her lifetime Emma publicly denied knowledge of her husband's involvement in the practice of polygamy and denied on her deathbed that the practice had ever occurred. Emma stated,

“No such thing as polygamy, or spiritual wifery, was taught, publicly or privately, before my husband's death, that I have now, or ever had any knowledge of .... He had no other wife but me; nor did he to my knowledge ever have.”  
Emma Smith claimed that the very first time she ever became aware of a polygamy revelation being attributed to Joseph Smith was when she read about it in 1853 in Orson Pratt's booklet The Seer. Many of the Latter Day Saints who joined the LDS Church in the midwestern United States had broken with Brigham Young and/or James Strang because of opposition to polygamy. Emma's continuing public denial of the practice seemed to lend strength to their cause, and opposition to polygamy became a tenet of the LDS Church. Over the years, many LDS Church historians attempted to prove that the practice had originated with Brigham Young.

End Flashback

“So this is all I’ve learned about Emma. Is there any other information you would want to know?” Lucy asked.

“Emma would be a good start. You can tell us about the other wives next time we get together,” Frank spoke up.

“Okay. Let me know when you want me to come back and share the story,” Lucy said as she stood up.

“And thank you for coming on such short notice,” Kylie said.

“You’re welcome,” Lucy said.

Ryan was closest to the door in Kylie’s office so he opened the door for Lucy.

“Thank you, Ryan. You’re such a gentleman,” Lucy said and walked out of the office.

“Well, what do you think of that story on Emma Smith?” Gloria asked as Ryan took his seat again.

“It was interesting. At least it’ll give us something to work on,” Kylie answered.

“She’s got a point,” Jessica agreed.

The others could tell Lucy’s story was interesting. They thought she probably learned about it by attending the Mormon services.

“Now that lunch is over, we’ll have to get together next time,” Kylie said.

Everybody stood up. Danny was stretching. He felt stiff, so he had the feeling it was time to stretch. Frank opened the office door for everyone but let Jessica go first since she was a woman. On their way out, the gang waved to Kylie as Frank slammed the door behind them. ‘They’re really good friends,’ Kylie told herself as she went back to work.


	14. Chapter 14

The weekend arrived. Kylie wasn't that busy on the weekends unless she had to show up for a court date. Like her father, she was the leader. She did do some thinking on Joseph Smith's murder. Danny was home with her, but his tenants usually keep him busy. As for now, Danny wasn't focusing on toilets. He looked at Kylie.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kylie asked him.

"I do see you're thinking about the murder."

"How did you figure that out?"

"By seeing that look on your face, that's how," was his answer.

"Would you like to do me a favor?" Kylie asked.

"Sure. What is that?" he said, still looking in her face.

"Go call the gang and tell them to come over," Kylie answered.

"Why can't you do that?"

She didn't bother answering his question. Danny did sound tired during this conversation, Kylie saw. 'He should get some rest,' Kylie thought to herself.

"You're right, Danny. I'll do it myself. Why don't you get some rest? You look exhausted," Kylie told him.

"I might be tired, Kylie, but I still want to stick around and see what you just thought of."

Like the rest of his friends, Danny liked being around so he could see what Kylie's plan was.

"I go and call Claudia. You haven't been sleeping much at all, and I'm worried about that," Kylie told him.

"I guess you're right, but I'm not getting any rest until I hear what you want to share."

"All right. After that, it's off to bed for you."

"Okay," he said as he yawned.

He watched as she called Claudia, who was their daughter and said, "Hi, Claudia."

"Hi, Mom. Is there anything wrong that you had to call me for?"

"Actually, there is. I want you to take over father's job for a couple of days or so."

"Why? Are you on travel again?"

"Nothing like that, sweetheart. We're not leaving anytime soon."

"Did something go wrong that made me call?"

Claudia still wasn't seeing the point by her mother's phone call.

"Your father hasn't been sleeping lately and I'm worried about him. I'm already talking him into going to bed now, but he wants to stick around for a bit longer."

"Okay, Mom. I'll be on my way."

After that, Claudia hung up.

Kylie listened to the dial tone as she punched in a call to Jessica.

"Hello, Kylie," Jessica said.

She was busy working on an article when Kylie called, and so far there were no interruptions until Kylie's telephone call.

"Hi, Jess. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Well, you're not. All I'm doing is working on an article. Tell me why you called."

"That's what I'm doing, Jess. I'm calling because I have something I want to share on Smith's murder. Would you mind calling the others?"

"Sure. I can use a break from my article. What time do you want us over?" Jessica asked.

"Whenever you can get away. Right now Danny and I are just talking. Claudia is coming over shortly so she can take over from Danny."

"Why is that?" Jessica asked.

"He hasn't been getting much sleep lately, and that makes me worry. I am talking him into getting some rest now, even if it means with you and the others being here, but he says he wants to stick around and he doesn't want to miss out on what I have to say. See you soon, Jess," Kylie said as the doorbell rang.

"Okay, Kylie. I'll pass this to the others now and we'll be on our way."

"Thanks, Jess," Kylie said as she watched Danny yawn as he got up to answer the door to find Claudia.

"Hi, Daddy," Claudia greeted a yawning Danny.

"Hello, dear. Why don't you come on in?"

"That's why I'm here."

Now Claudia did see why Kylie asked her to come over. She saw there were dark circles in his eyes.

"Hi, Mom. I do now see why you want me over," Claudia said as Kylie kissed her daughter on the cheek.

"I've been telling him all day long to try and get some rest. He won't listen to me," Kylie said.

"Daddy, if you're so tired, just go to e and try to get some rest. You look exhausted."

Now Danny saw Claudia was agreeing with her mother. He did see their point, but wanted to spend time with the gang while they were here.

"Kylie, would you mind if I stay up for a while longer? I won't go to sleep until after the gang leaves."

"No. You get into your pajamas this instant. I don't want to keep up this argument anymore. Claudia, you can take over now."

"Daddy, have there been any recent complaints? I need to know before I start anything."

Claudia said that last word as she heard the doorbell ring. Danny gave out the information to Claudia while he continued to yawn.

"Thank you, Daddy. Now you can get to that comfortable bed of yours. I will take over from here."

Claudia helped her father to his bedroom. Ryan, Jessica, Frank and Gloria arrived at the same time. They did see Claudia with Danny.

"Kylie, what's going on with Claudia and Danny?" Frank asked.

"Danny hasn't been able to sleep at all with the tenants calling all the time, and all day he and I have been arguing about it, but he wanted to wait until you guys left."

"And is that why Claudia's here?" Gloria asked.

"That's right. Why don't you all find a place to sit?"

Danny didn't want Claudia help him get into his pajamas or put him under the covers, but she did help anyway. Once Danny got into bed, Claudia thought it made sense to feel his forehead to see if there was anything wrong. There was something wrong like she thought. All she could do now was take his temperature to find the answer."

"Tell us why you called," Frank said.

As usual, Ryan was the quiet one of them all. He'd been like that ever since they first met. Plus he was also on the shy side. Claudia took a look at what the thermonter told her. It was getting close to flu season. Danny didn't cough or anything, and Claudia thought that was a good sign.

"It's a high fever. Looks like you have the flu bug," Claudia told her father.

"I'll head on out now. Take care," she said as he yawned again.

He was able to watch her leave the bedroom. Kylie and her friends saw Claudia enter the living room once more.

"Has your father finally gotten into bed?" Kylie asked.

"Yes, Mom. I can go on the job now," she said while she slammed the door.

"Now you can tell us, but we're sorry Danny can't stick around to hear what you have to share," Jessica began.

"Now that I am done arguing, I can get my thought out of my head. I called because it's time we head back to the Church and search for clues."

"I was wondering when you would say that," Frank replied.

"What do you think, Sis?"

"I am starting to think Kylie has a good idea, and I don't think we have been there recently. And we can discuss when we should leave," Gloria added.

"That's another reason why I called," Kylie replied.

"What do you think, Ryan?" Frank asked.

"I don't have anything going on now, but I still want to come up with a plan for Lind and Keith while we visit the Church. Then I'll call."

"Good idea, Ryan," Jessica said.

As a widower, Ryan was very protective of his own children.

"What about Danny? You know how he feels about missing out on this sort of part while coming up with ideas where to search for clues," Gloria said.

"It won't hurt him to stay behind for once. He could use a break," Kylie said.

Danny hadn't yet tried to fall asleep, but he did hear what Kylie said had just said about his missing the visit to the Church. This was something Kylie and his friends didn't know he was listening to the conversation. Then he finally fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

The weekend arrived. Kylie wasn’t that busy on the weekends unless she had to show up for a court date. Like her father, she was the leader. She did do some thinking on Joseph Smith’s murder. Danny was home with her, but his tenants usually keep him busy. As for now, Danny wasn’t focusing on toilets. He looked at Kylie.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kylie asked him.

“I do see you’re thinking about the murder.”

“How did you figure that out?”

“By seeing that look on your face, that’s how,” was his answer.

“Would you like to do me a favor?” Kylie asked.

“Sure. What’s that?” he said, still looking in her face.

“Go call the gang and tell them to come over,” Kylie answered.

“Why don’t you do that?”

She didn’t bother answering his question. 

Danny did sound tired during this conversation, Kylie saw. ‘He should get some rest,’ Kylie told herself.

“You’re right, Danny. I’ll do it myself. Why don’t you get some rest? You look exhausted,” Kylie told him.

“I might be tired, but I still want to stick around and see what you just thought of.”

Like the rest of his friends, Danny liked being around so he could see what Kylie’s plan was.

“I’ll go and call Claudia. You haven’t been sleeping much at all, and I’m worried about that,” Kylie told him.

“I guess you’re right, but I’m not getting any rest until I hear what you want to share.”

“All right. After that, it’s off to bed for you.”

“Okay,” he said as he yawned.

He watched as she called Claudia who was their daughter and said, “Hi, Claudia."

“Hi, Mom. Is there anything wrong that you had to call me for?”

“Actually, there is. I want you to take over your father’s job for a couple of days or so.”

“Why? Are you on travel again?” 

“Nothing like that, sweetheart. We’re not leaving anytime soon.”

“Did something go wrong that made you call?”

Claudia still wasn’t seeing the point by her mother’s phone call.

“Your father hasn’t been sleeping lately and I’m worried about him. I’m already talking him into going to bed now, but he wants to stick around for a bit longer.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll be on my way.”

After that, Claudia hung up.

Kylie listened to the dial tone as she punched in a call to Jessica.

“Hello, Kylie,” Jessica said.

She was busy working on an article when Kylie called, and so far there were no interruptions until Kylie’s telephone call.

“Hi, Jess. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Well, you’re not. All I’m doing is working on an article. Tell me why you called.

“That’s what I’m doing, Jess. I’m calling because I have something I want to share on Smith’s murder. Would you mind calling the others?”

“Sure. I can use a break from my article. What time do you want us over?” Jessica asked.

“Whenever you can get away.”

“Right now Danny and I are just talking. Claudia is coming over shortly so she can take over from Danny.”

“Why is that?” Jessica asked.

“He hasn’t been getting much sleep lately, and that makes me worry. I am talking him into getting some rest now, even if it means with you and the others being here, but he says he wants to stick around and he doesn’t want to miss out on what I have to say. See you soon, Jess,” Kylie said as the doorbell rang.

“Okay, Kylie. I’ll pass this to the other now and we’ll be on our way.”

“Thanks, Jess,” Kylie said as she watched Danny yawn as he got up to answer the door to find Claudia.

“Hi, Daddy,” Claudia greeted a yawning Danny.

“Hello, dear. Why don’t you come on in?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Now Claudia did see why Kylie called her to come over. She saw there were dark circles in his eyes.

“Hi, Mom. I do now see why you want me over,” Claudia said as Kylie kissed her daughter on the cheek.

“I’ve been telling him all day long to try and get some rest. He won’t listen to me,” Kylie said.

“Daddy, if you’re so tired, just go to bed and try to get some rest. You look exhausted.”

Now Danny saw Claudia was agreeing with her mother. He did see their point, but wanted to spend time with the gang while they were here.

“Kylie, would you mind if I stay up for a while longer? I won’t go to sleep until after the gang leaves.”

“No. You get into your pajamas this instant. I don’t want to keep up this argument anymore. Claudia, you can take over now.”

“Daddy, have there been any complaints? I need to know before I start anything.”

Claudia said that last word as she heard the doorbell ring.

Danny gave out the information to Claudia while he continued to yawn.

“Thank you, Daddy. Now you can get to that comfortable bed of yours. I will take over from here.”

Claudia watched Kylie open and close the door. Claudia helped her father to his bedroom. Ryan, Jessica, Frank and Gloria arrived at the same time. They did see Claudia with Danny.

“Kylie, what is going on with Claudia and Danny?” Frank asked.

“Danny hasn’t been able to sleep at all with the tenants calling all the time, and all day he and I have been arguing about it, but he wanted to wait until you guys left.”

“That’s why Claudia’s here?” Gloria asked.

“That’s right. Why don’t you all find a place to sit?”

Danny didn’t want Claudia help him into his pajamas or put him under the covers, but she did help anyway. Once Danny got into bed, Claudia thought it made sense to feel his forehead to see if there was anything wrong. There wasn’t, so she thought that was a good sign.

“Tell us why you called,” Frank said.

As usual, Ryan was the quiet one of them all. He’d been like that ever since they first met. Plus he was also on the shy side Claudia took a look at what the thermoter told her.

“I’ll head on out now. Take care,” she said as he yawned again.

He was able to watch her leave the bedroom. Kylie and her friends saw Claudia enter the living room once more.

“Has your father finally gotten into bed?” Kylie asked.

“Yes, Mom. I am on the job now,” she said while she slammed the door.

“Now you can tell us, but we’re sorry Danny can’t stick around to hear what you have to share,” Jessica began.

“Now that I am done arguing, I can get my thought out of my head. I called because it’s time we headed hack to the Church and search for clues.”

“I was wondering when you would say that,” Frank replied.

“What do you think, Sis?” 

“I am starting to think Kylie has a very good idea, and I don’t think we have been there recently. And we can discuss when we should leave,” Gloria added.

“That’s another reason why I called,” Kylie replied.

“What do you think, Ryan?” Frank asked.

“I don’t have anything going on now, but I still want to come up with a plan for Linda and Keith while we visit the Church. Then I’ll call.”

“Good idea, Ryan,” Jessica said.

As a widower, Ryan was very protective of his own children.

“What about Danny? You know how he feels about missing out on this sort of part while coming up with ideas where to search for clues,” Gloria said.

Danny hadn’t yet tried to fall asleep, but he did hear what Kylie had just said about his missing the visit to the Church. This was something Kylie and his friends didn’t know he was listening to the conversation. Then he finally feel asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fred: Well, fans, we have some bad news. Tell them, Shag.
> 
> Shaggy: Since Fred, Daph, Velma and I are really old, we tried our best to solve this creepy mystery that was never solved in the 1800s, and even our own children can't find anymore clues.
> 
> Daphne: It was interesting to try to solve a 100+ murder mystery that was left open. It had a lot of research and less clues for us and the kids to continue to try solving it but it never happened.
> 
> Velma: Since we solved tons of mysteries we thought it wouldn't hurt to try working on this one. This one was a bit complicated, but in the future the kids will stay away from historical murder mysteries. Joseph Smith sure had a lot of history on starting the Mormon religion.

The next day, Kylie woke up before Danny was. At least she called Claudia right away and that was a big help to both her and Danny. It also was a good idea Claudia saw what made Danny so tired. She didn't want to wake up Danny, so she put on an outfit. Kylie just came up with an idea on what she and her friends could try to find at least one clue during the visit to the Church today.

Danny finally woke up three minutes after Kylie did. He put on some slippers, but he found his robe and put it on.

"Morning, Kylie," Danny greeted her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw Danny was awake. He came out for some coffee. The doorbell rang. Danny was closest to the door, and when he opened the door, he saw Claudia on his doorstep.

"Morning, sweetheart," Danny said as he gave out a yawn.

"Morning, Daddy. Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" she asked once he shut the door behind his daughter.

"What do you plan to do today while Daddy stays in bed?" Claudia asked her mother.

Danny didn't want to say anything at the moment, so he stayed quiet and continue on yawning.

Claudia looked at Danny and said, "Go back to bed. You still look and sound tired."

He didn't respond back.

"I plan t take the gang out for a visit at the Church today."

She looked at Danny and said, "That means you can't come, but I do hate leaving you behind like this, but don't forget that happened to me, so now it's your turn."

"Come on, Kylie. I'm going too," Danny argued.

"I'm not going back to this argument anymore. If you come along you will make us sick."

"No, I won't."

Claudia thought to herself, 'I'm happy I'm not the parent. I don't like arguments such as this one.'

"Mom, that is a good idea. You haven't been there for a while, right?" Claudia asked.

She decided to change the subject so her mother and father wouldn't have to listen anymore of their argument.

"Right. This is why I thought of it. Plus we found a clue at the jail where he was murdered. I sure hope we find something at the Church today."

She looked at Danny and said, "That means you can't come, but I do hate leaving you behind like this, but don't forget that happened to me, so now it's your turn."

"Come on, Kylie. I'm going too," Danny argued.

"I'm not going back to this argument anymore. If you come along you will make us sick."

"No, I won't."

Claudia thought to herself, 'Im happy I'm not the parent. I don't like arguments such as this one.'

"Mom, that is a good idea. You haven't been there for a while, right?" Claudia asked.

She decided to change the subject so her mother and father wouldn't have to listen anymore of their atgument.

"Right. This is why I thought of it. Plus we found a clue at the jail where he was murdered. I sure hope we find something at the Church today."

"Is the Church open today? It's only Thursday," Danny spoke up.

"I don't think so, Danny. I remember Daphne telling us that Thursday is mostly spent in the commmunity, so that should give us an opportunity to sneak in and find some clues."

"i still want to come along. If I don't, I'll miss out on of all the fun," Danny told her.

"Tell you what we can do," Kylie told him.

"What?"

"You stay here in bed and we can text you on what we found, so that way you won't have to miss anything. We'll post on facebook and tweet as well. How does that sound?"

"It's okay, but I still prefer coming along," he said and then added, "how about you send me the clues and I can tweet them and share on facebook?"

"I like the idea. I'll see if the gang agrees to it," Kylie told him.

Claudia once again thought to herself, 'At least they're agreeing on something rather than arguing, so that's a good sign.'

"I better get busy, so I'm off. I wish you good luck, Mom," Claudia told Kylie.

"Thanks, sweetheart. I'm sure we won't need it, but O'll keep it in mind."

"Okay, Mom. I'll see you later," Claudia said and was out of the door.

"Who is starting to drive?" Danny asked.

"I think it might be Frank. He was the one who had the Mystery Machine the last time we were together," Kylie answered.

"I wish I could join you, but I'll keep checking my phone," Danny said as he sipped a few fips of coffee.

"You'll know once one of us text."

"Okay."

That's when they heard footsteps coming closer. It sounded like somebody was arriving at their apartment.

"I'll get it," Kylie told him.

"Okay," he replied.

He watched as Kylie opened the door the minute the doorbell rang. He was still in his robe when he saw Frank standing at the door.

"Hi, Danny. Kylie, I think we should get a move on now. The others are waiting in the Mystery Machine. Hope you feel better soon, Danny. Sorry you will miss out on the fun," Grank said.

"So that means you're starting out on the driveway?" she asked.

"Right. I'll start, then one of you can drive on the way home," Frank answered.

"Sounds good to me. We'll be sure to text you," Kylie said to Danny.

"Okay."

Once he closed the door behind his friends, he heard Kylie say to Frank, "I told Danny we'll send updates on our church visit."

"Not a bad idea," Frank said.

Danny poured himself a cup of coffee and sat on the courch to watch some television. At least that could be something he could do besides staying in bed most of the day. If he falls asleep with the television on, Claudia would be there to turn the TV off.


End file.
